Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
November 8, 2013

KOLKATA, India –– A dramatic post-tea batting collapse triggered by high quality swing bowling from Mohammad Shami saw West Indies collapse to a humiliating innings and 51-run defeat, to concede the first Test to India inside three days today.
Shami finished with five for 47 for a nine-wicket match haul to mark a memorable Test debut as West Indies were rolled over for 168, about 20 minutes before the scheduled close at Eden Gardens.
None of the Windies batsman looked safe at the crease once Shami returned after the break for a third spell from the High Court End and got the ball to reverse swing prodigiously. He was well supported by off-spinner Ravi Ashwin who captured three for 46 off 19 overs.
A handful of the West Indies’ batsmen got starts, but none carried on. Stylish left-hander Darren Bravo top scored with 37 and opener Kieran Powell got 36, while Chris Gayle scored a breezy 33 and Shiv Chanderpaul, 31 not out.
Trailing by 219 runs on first innings after India were dismissed for 453, West Indies were well poised at 101 for one at one stage before the rot set in, and they lost their last nine wickets for 67 runs.
Powell and Bravo added 68 for the second wicket, but once both fell to Ashwin within five overs of each other, the innings imploded.
The result was formalized when tail-ender Sheldon Cottrell, playing his first Test, was bowled for five with another sharp in-swinger from Shami to a deafening roar from a crowd that built up close to capacity by the time the match was completed.
The victory gave India a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series with the final match starting next Thursday at the WankhedeStadium in Mumbai, the home city of the hosts’ batting megastar Sachin Tendulkar, who will be playing his 200th and final Test.
India had earlier strengthened their grip on the match despite off-spinner Shane Shillingford’s six-wicket haul, as they added 99 for the loss of their final four wickets.
Shillingford claimed six for 167 –– his fifth five-wicket haul in 11 Tests –– and he and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul (2-67) shared the last four wickets following a record seventh-wicket partnership between century-makers Rohit Sharma, the Man Of The Match, and Ashwin.
Rohit, in his debut Test, converted his overnight 127 into a classy 177, while Ashwin notched his second Test hundred of 124, after resuming on 92. The pair shared a monumental, record 280-run seventh wicket stand to transform the fortunes of their side.
Gayle gave West Indies a blistering start with a number of powerful off-side strokes, cracking seven boundaries off just 35 balls, before falling to fast-medium bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the second time in the match. He miscued a hook at a short, wide delivery was caught at square leg.
For the duration of Gayle’s innings, Powell had been scoreless and he was fortunate, when off-spinner Ashwin dropped a return catch in his first over from a leading edge.
He needed 31 balls in 21 minutes to get his first run and fortune again favoured him on seven, when Kumar running dropped him at deep backward square leg.
In tandem with Bravo, Powell spent close to one and a half hours defying the Indian attack, and the duo were just shutting shop ahead of tea, when he was lbw playing back to a shooter from Ashwin.
Next over, Marlon Samuels was adjudged lbw to Shami for four, playing back to one that swung in sharply. Television replays suggested the delivery might have missed leg-stump.
After tea, there was little substance or stability from the West Indies batting and they lost their last seven wickets for 48 in less than 20 overs.
Bravo had looked untroubled during his innings, but mistimed a cut and was caught at backward point off Ashwin in the second over after the break and three overs later, Shami had Denesh Ramdin caught at forward short leg for one from an inside edge.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy stayed around for 41 minutes in scoring eight but was the first of three wickets to fall with the score on 152 in Shami’s 11th over.